


An exercise in trust

by RedPlusBlueEqualsOrange



Series: Many Misunderstood Sides [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Maybe - Freeform, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, hes shirtless but that literally only applies in the beginning when logan is Gay™, i wrote this instead of my research paper, is everybody out of character?, mentions of nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:27:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18713713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedPlusBlueEqualsOrange/pseuds/RedPlusBlueEqualsOrange
Summary: Logan visits Deceit again and they go on an "adventure" to the imagination.





	An exercise in trust

**Author's Note:**

> it counts as long as its uploaded before midnight!  
> did you know that as I write these I just title them not as expected part 2/3 or whatever number im on. that's why the titles always suck.

Logan found himself in front of Deceit’s door on a random day, which was usually not how he chose dates, but he was willing to make an exception. Remembering what happened last time, he knocked tentatively three times. After some shuffling on the other side, an overtired snake opened the door… missing a shirt.

“Oh.” Was all Logan could muster. 

While everyone who had ever looked at the lying side knew he had scales on his face, Logan now knew that there were more scales all across his body. They swooped around his sides just above his hips, all over the area of his sternum, down his forearms and peeking over his shoulders.

“Logan, what a surprise.” Deceit crossed his arms over his chest in an almost self conscious way. “Here on an errand for the other sides again?” 

“N-no I have come to spend time with you, as I said I would last time.” Logan attempted to collect himself and lock down any awry thoughts about Deceit’s biology and where other scales may be.

“Uh, sure, no better time than the present.” He turned away and gave a little gesture for Logan to follow him in to his room. “It’s that time of year where my scales get pretty sensitive and hurt a lot and the pain of wearing a shirt is not worth any discomfort you feel.” The scaled side almost seemed to be overcompensation for his earlier insecurity by blatantly showing how comfortable he was in his body by dismissively explaining in a take-it-or-leave-it style as he went to his bed to sit down. (Logan may not understand emotions, but he took pride in understanding behaviour.) The logical side was too busy staring at the scales that also adorned his shoulders, connected together to a long strip that ran down his spine and the way they shimmered in the low light. Logan forgot how to speak.

Deceit took Logan’s silence for unease, “Well if it bothers you that much...” He picked up a random shirt from the floor.

Logan suddenly remembered the language he’d spoken all his life, “No!” ‘Dangit that’s to strong a reaction!’ he cursed himself and mentally backpedaled. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” He looked at the floor, cursing his lack of eloquence and wondering how Deceit always managed to make him stumble over his words and loose his chill. 

The liar paused for a moment, Logan could feel Deceit studying him, scanning for a falsehood in his statements. Apparently not finding one, the shirt was dropped back to the floor. 

“Whatever. Well, what do you want to talk about.” Deceit didn’t return to his bed, instead going over to coo at a rather large snake that was on top of his dresser. 

Logan took this as an invitation to look up from the floor. “Well I did not have anything planned but-” THUNK. A loud slam came from the other side of a wall where another side’s room would be. Logan, ever the innocent, was about to ask if they were ok when loud moaning came from the wall too. Was- was this really happening? 

Deceit wrinkled his nose in disgust, “A con of sharing a wall with Lust.” He made his way to his desk, retrieving the imagination crystal inside.

“Are there any pros?” Logan couldn’t quite stop his tone from betraying how incredulous he felt.

Deceit got a distant look in his eye as a particularly loud sound filled the room. “No.” A little shake of his head and one portal start up later and the two were inside the absolute blankness of the imagination. 

Deceit hummed eyeing the space around them. “Hey, Logan, cover your eyes. I think you’ll like this one.” His smirk the only evidence of possible mischief.

Putting aside the fact that Logan had no real reason not to trust the snake, he found that it was a lot harder than trusting Virgil had been when he was still Anxiety to them. Going against his instinct, Logan went to cover his eyes. The last thing he saw was Deceit break into a grin, not a malicious one though.

The shifting of matter was all logan could hear. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it was quite loud.

The question came from the ground beside him. “Hey, could you move, like, a foot to your left?” He dutifully obeyed the request and waited for the world to become what Deceit wanted it to be.

Deceit stood and dusted his hands off. “And, done. Open up.” 

The logical side cautiously removed his hands from his face and took in the new scene. They were in a library, or rather it had been a library. The place he had been standing before now had an enormous curving tree, a willow perhaps that reached up through a large hole in the ceiling. The imagination door was ingrained into the tree and rain fell gently between the branches. Seven foot tall, stuffed bookshelves stretched out in rows in every direction, like the rays drawn on a child’s sun. Loose paper carpeted the slightly rotting wood that made up the floor, and candles that had been lit many times dotted every flat surface. The only light seemed to come from the hole in the ceiling and the candles. The building had tall ceilings and a balcony that wrapped around the edges, more bookshelves peeked out from the second level. The usual feeling of a library was undercut with mystery, like this place had been ripped from a story and planted on a hill just outside a dreary town in the middle of the night. Logan loved it.

“Be careful, you’ll catch flies.” Deceit teased, also looking around at what he created.

Logan picked his jaw up from the floor and oh so eloquently garbled out a thank you that sounded more like gibberish.

Deceit picked up a soaked book from the floor. “I’ve never actually made this place in the imagination, only thought about it.” He set the volume on a nearby shelf.

“It’s… “ Logan couldn’t find the proper word to describe what he was feeling. Feeling, huh, Deceit had made him feel an emotion. Which emotion, he couldn’t say, but it felt warm and a little disorientating, like someone had made the entire world just for him, and in a way, someone had. 

Logan went to voice his opinions to the lying side to find Deceit on his own little mental tangent, only his was softly whispered. “The mildew was definitely intentional, yep. Crumbling ceiling and floors, perfectly as expected. It’s great, he probably doesn’t think it’s disgusting and unsafe.” He had chosen a bookshelf and seemed to be moving books on it around at random, occasionally opening one to have it fall apart in his hands.

Logan’s praises died on his tongue leaving a heavy feeling where the warm one had been. The frantic yet methodical nature in which Deceit moved called him back to a certain panic attack Virgil had. He had been doing something similar, arranging and rearranging some trivial collection of items on the floor, muttering to himself. It almost went unnoticed that the side was not ok until Patton attempted to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention, which launched him into the kind of attack they were all familiar with. Was this the same case with Deceit? 

Deciding that the longer this went on the worse whatever came next would be, Logan broke his rant. “Deceit, are you ok?” He got closer but did not touch the other side.

As if taken from a trance, Deceit blinked and let go of the book he’d been holding, letting it fall to the floor. “I… yes, yeah I’m… I’m good.” He retracted his hand and wiped them on his pants, not looking at Logan.

The logical side was taken aback by how fast Deceit had collected himself. “Are you sure becau-”

Deceit cut him off with a smile that was forced even to him. “Yes, Logan. Do you want to explore the rest of the library? I’ve heard that there’s great reading nooks upstairs.” 

Being cut off was something Logan had grown to expect from Roman or Patton but Deceit had always let him finish a thought or sentence before talking. He hadn’t done enough research to know what this shift in behaviour meant, but he decided that perhaps moving on would be best.

“Yes, that would be satisfactory.” Logan turned to the closest shelf, the whole situation just a bit too awkward to continue talking about. He justified it as ‘If something were wrong Deceit would tell me.’ He knew it was a lie but for once he allowed it to comfort him. Understanding people was tough and he would accept this conversation as botched and try to be better next time. 

The shelf turned out to be full of classics, most of which Logan had already read. Deceit joined him and picked a book at random, turning it open to the middle.

Logan glanced the title, “Lord of the Flies, it is a good story about human nature.”

“Oh, really?” The tone of Deceit’s statement made it seem like a taunt but that didn’t really matter to Logan.

The logical side recalled what he remembered of the book. “Yes, the book takes place on an island where a group of school boys have crash landed without adult supervision. They try to set up a society, but fear and defiance create problems.” He cut himself off to keep from spoiling the book. “While I do not have much frame of reference, I believe you would enjoy reading it.”

Deceit shut the book and smiled. “I’ll believe you specs, we should find you something to read too.” He tapped the cover in thought. “Would you be interested in learning about the history of Tibetan Buddhism?” He offered innocently.

Taken a bit off guard by the unorthodox subject, Logan found himself tongue tied. “Um, ok.”

“Great, I know where a really good book is.” Deceit began to stroll away, leaving him to follow, still a bit dumbfounded. 

The two walked in silence and Logan had just finished rebooting when the lying side commented, “I always thought you preferred science to history.”

Grateful for a conversation starter, Logan voiced his opinion, “Well, both have their interesting pieces. With history it is interesting how similar events repeat and nobody learns from them, but science allows people to understand the world around them and better the lives of others.” He stopped himself so as not to, as Roman so often put it, ‘be annoying’.

Deceit nudged him with his elbow, “Come on, that can’t be all you have to say.” A cocky smile settled on the snake’s face. “I asked the question, I know what I’m getting in to. I’ve heard people rant about weirder stuff before.” 

The list of strange things Deceit said and did just kept getting longer. Logan blinked, waiting for the punchline or mean comment, but found only an expectant look from the other side. He began to talk about the science and history topics he enjoyed, but Deceit just hummed in agreement, made noises of affirmation, and asked clarifying questions. Suspicions put to rest Logan began to get lost in the sharing of knowledge. He didn’t stop talking when they reached the shelf they were looking for or when they found and went up a staircase, but he did stop when Deceit sat down in a soft looking, but stained reading nook that looked a little like a rounded booth at at restaurant. 

It was close to the balcony with a perfect view of the lower floor. Deceit offered him the book on Tibetan Buddhism, and Logan noticed black marks on his arms. There was just enough candle light to read that they were notes he had taken on what Logan was saying, written with a dying black pen that was now tucked behind the lying sides ear. Deceit had been listening to everything he’d said. And he cared. 

Deceit patted the spot beside him. “It’s just water stains, or I could find another one if you want to read alone.” Deceit picked at the cover of Lord of the Flies, which he had carried the whole time.

Being more decisive in his answer this time, Logan joined him. “No, this is fine.”

Deceit smiled, summoning slightly itchy blankets and lumpy pillows and tried to get comfortable. Logan did the same, not really minding that everything smelled like mothballs. The two read in the low candle light for what felt like hours. Eventually Logan got too tired to keep his book upright and too snug to want to move, and fell asleep.

Logan stirred in the bright morning light and found himself in his room. Everything that had happened with Deceit had been far too detailed to have been a dream, yet here he was in his bed. He fumbled for his glasses on his nightstand and put them on. With this new clarity of vision he found a book on the stand. The book of Tibetan Buddhism from the imagination and a sticky note. Deciphering the scrawled handwriting as best as he could, it said ‘You were right, it was a good book. Come by sometime so we can talk about it.’ followed by a little doodle of a snake.

**Author's Note:**

> After EXTENSIVE research, nothing like what i’m describing in the beginning actually exists in snakes, which is fine because half snake men don’t exist either. I did on the other hand learn so much more about scale rot than I ever wanted to :< it’s so gross!
> 
> If you're wondering why Tibetan Buddhism, I literally just went to Wikipedia and hit random till I found a topic that you would find in a book.
> 
> im super out of it so if something's wrong, shoot me a comment or an ask on my tumblr an ill fix it
> 
> edit 11/23: hey, if anyone is still reading, I don't know if im actually going to go anywhere with this little universe. im not particularly proud of this one and I was making it up as I went along. im busy and tired all the time and writing rally doesn't relax me. at first I stopped because I had a big paper to write and I didn't have time, but now I just feel guilty and don't know what to do. I have a half written chapter of Polyonimous that i might put out when I have time but at most there will be one, maybe two more parts to this story.


End file.
